Yana Bernatavichute sat in her physiology classroom as she waited for her students to arrive.

When the final student arrived, Bernatavichute smiled as she saw students from different walks of life fill her classroom.

“The diversity of the students that I have are amazing,” said Bernatavichute. “I’m so glad to see such a diverse population in terms of ethnicity, gender and ages of the students.”

Bernatavichute is one of the 21 part-time and two full-time faculty members who joined Moorpark College this semester, according to the office of Executive Vice President Lori Bennett.

From engineering to business, the new instructors bring their unique subject-matter expertise to the campus.

Bernatavichute is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining Moorpark, she was an instructor at a small liberal arts college called Marymount California University in Palos Verdes. She said she has some expectations for her students to strive to, in her first semester at the college.

“During my first class, I tried to get to know students and collect their information to see where I should adjust my expectations or keep them,” Bernatavichute said.

Karen Quincy Loberg, who teaches photojournalism, is another new adjunct instructor. She has decades of experience working as a photographer for various publications such as Life Magazine, Associated Press and the Quincy Patriot Metro. She currently works for the Ventura County Star. This is Loberg’s first time teaching a college-level course and she finds it quite challenging so far.

“This is my first gig where I have to turn in grades, make up a rubric and a syllabus, which is quite hard,” said Loberg.

But Loberg is confident that she will be comfortable as a professor as soon as she gets used to the lectern.

“As far of formal teaching goes that is something I figure I’ll get a feel for as I go,” said Loberg. “But I think my strong point is I really know my job and not only do I know it, I’m in love with it.”

Massoud Saleh is another part-time faculty, in the engineering department. He teaches a course called Engineering Design/CAD this semester. Saleh has taught at California State Universities for many years. He has a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and is currently working toward his Ph.D.

He has been working in the engineering field for over 20 years.

He currently works on a project regarding airplane accessibility. The project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to help people with disabilities easily evacuate from an airplane in case of an emergency.

Saleh finds the students at Moorpark very interested in learning.

“On Monday, it was a full class and they were so participating,” said Saleh. “Most of the time, afternoon classes’ students are usually tired and sleepy or some things like that.”